The invention relates to a refrigeratable beverage container holder, and, more particularly, to a refrigeratable beverage container holder constructed with a sleeve of reusable refrigerant disposed between the walls of a conventional foam cup and a cup-shaped liner provided therein for receiving and circumferentially engaging a beverage container and thereby chilling the contained beverage.
It is conventionally desirable to consume most beverages such as soft drinks and particularly beer in a chilled state. Containers of such beverages are thus stored in refrigerated areas such as refrigerators, ice boxes or ice chests for sufficient periods of time prior to consumption to lower the temperature. Beverages such as soft drinks are often emptied from their containers into glasses or cups filled with ice to afford maximum chilling during consumption. The taste of most soft drinks is not rendered totally unpalatable by diluting water produced by the melting ice; however, ice cannot be added to beer or ale dur to the watering effect and the undesirable taste resulting therefrom. For this reason, beer is usually stored in refrigerators where the temperature is relatively low. Additionally, other means have been used such as placing the beverage in very thin, highly thermally conductive aluminum and steel walled cans to enhance the rate and extent to which a beverage may be cooled from an ambient temperature. Unfortunately, conventional refrigerators are not always kept at a temperature whereby the beverage is suitably chilled, regardless of its container, to a point near that of freezing. Unless the consumer wishes to place the beverage can or bottle in the refrigerator freezer to suitably chill it, a beverage such as beer is normally served "cool" but not "chilled". But neither beer nor soft drinks can be left in the freezer unattended since both would eventually freeze. For this reason, beer and many soft drinks are consumed directly from their containers in a less than desirable, partially chilled state.
The desirability of consuming beverages in as nearly a chilled state as possible has prompted the development of apparatus to insulate a chilled beverage container from the environment during consumption of the beverage. One such device of contemporary popularity is a beverage can holder comprised of a suitable foam material such as foamed polystyrene molded into an insulative cup configuration suitable for receiving a beverage can therein. Usually, a plastic ring is provided at the top of the insulative cup whereby the beverage can is disposed centrally therein with a dead air space therearound. The combination of the foam insulation characteristics and dead air space comprise a suitable means for maintaining the chilled condition of the beverage for some extended period of time. Such insulative cups, or beverage holders, are especially popular out of doors where an uninsulated beverage container will quickly absorb heat from the environment.
Certain problems exist with the aforesaid prior art "dead air" beverage holders. The beverage must initially be chilled. Once the beverage container is removed from its chilling environment it can only get warmer, and the insulated beverage container only retards this inevitable result. Aggravating the warming trend is the fact that the conventional beverage containers which are quickest to chill, i.e. those made of thin walled thermally conductive metal, are also the quickest to get warm. Beverages in glass containers warm somewhat slower in an ambient termperatured environment than aluminum, but not much. It may thus be seen that most all container materials have a relatively high rate of thermal conductivity to permit rapid cooling of the beverage in a refrigerator but which also operates to afford rapid heat absorption into the beverage once the container has been removed into an ambient temperature environment for consumption. It is therefore desirable to provide a low cost beverage holder which overcomes the aforesaid problems wherein a beverage in its original container can be consumed over an extended period of time at a constant and desirably chilled or cold temperature.
The prior art has provided refrigeratable beverage holders in various embodiments; however, such known embodiments are heavy, cumbersome, relatively expensive mug or stein-like devices. For example, one such device is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,428, issued on Feb. 7, 1977, therein illustrating a mug-shaped device for keeping cool a beverage in a container. The device of that invention is designed to receive beverage containers of various diameters and provides spring means for securing a snug contact with the walls of various sized beverage containers and although somewhat effective in cooling said beverages, is relatively expensive, heavy, cumbersome, bulky and mechanically complicated in comparison with conventional foam "dead air" beverage can holders.
The refrigerated beverage holder of the present invention is especially adapted for maintaining the chilled condition or cooling a beverage, within its own container, before and during consumption. The present invention overcomes many of the disadvantages of prior art, low cost, semi-disposable insulative beverage container holders as well as the heavier and more expensive refrigeratable beverage devices by providing means within a conventional foam beverage container holder which absorbs heat from the enclosed beverage container. In particular, in this manner the thermal conductivity aspects of this metal, especially aluminum and steel beverage containers are utilized to maintain the temperature of a beverage container as low, as long as possible; additionally, the invention may also be used to cool an ambient temperature beverage container below the temperature at which it was placed within the refrigerated beverage holder of the invention.